


Make Believe

by eugeneismyqueen



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: AU where Eugene grew up as a prince and Rapunzel did too, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, New Dream, but not really enemies Eugene just doesn’t want to hurt Rapunzel, prince Eugene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25955575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eugeneismyqueen/pseuds/eugeneismyqueen
Summary: From a prompt on tumblr by sofwa-wolf: I really want to kiss you right now.” “Do it then.”
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	Make Believe

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the prompt, Sof! I had fun with it :)

Prince Eugene hated visits to Corona. The kingdom was always bustling with activity. He hated their docks, their smiling people, and their sweets. But most of all, he hated their princess. 

Once upon a time, Eugene had been friends with Princess Rapunzel. Although she was five years younger than him, as children they were playmates. While their parents attended balls and wrote up treaties, the young royals went off to play pirates and rogues, swashbucklers, and other nonsense that children like to play. 

But then Eugene grew up and left Rapunzel behind. Until she grew up too, growing into a woman that was beautiful and charming. A woman that could end a thousand wars with just her smile, a woman so strong and fearless that she could take anything on. She was unlike all of the other princesses. She didn’t mind getting her hands dirty, she didn’t mind befriending and hanging out amongst the commoners. Despite being 18, she still ran around barefoot and kept her hair as short as she could. And it suited her. 

And he hated her for everything that made her irresistible. 

Because Prince Eugene was in love with her. But Rapunzel was the sole heir to her kingdom and didn’t want a king to come and take over by marriage. And Eugene barely felt confident enough to handle his own kingdom, let alone run _two._

And yet their parents had arranged for the two young royals to reconnect and rekindle their friendship. Eugene was to be Rapunzel’s suitor, and if she did not consider him, her father would arrange the marriage himself. And Eugene knew from his many years of friendship with Rapunzel, how desperately she yearned to be free to do anything she wanted. 

So with a nasty attitude, Eugene embarked upon Corona, in order to woo the woman he both hated and adored the most. 

“Prince Eugene, it’s lovely to see you again.” Rapunzel’s posture was stiff as she dropped into a low curtsy, head bent at his arrival. 

He bent forward and took her outstretched hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss. He’d practiced the movements a hundred times over in etiquette training. It was an automatic movement for him, like muscle memory. But his heart rate still sped up at touching Rapunzel’s hand, so close to her he could see each and every individual freckle scattered across her cheeks. Including a pronounced one under her right eye, hidden by her dark eyelashes. 

“You look lovely,” he said and she blushed. She pulled her hand away from his, slowly because her father was watching nearby. 

“Would you like to go on a walk around the gardens with me? Or are you too tired from your travels?” She asked, rubbing the back of her neck, where she undoubtedly felt her father’s cold stare. 

“Not at all, Princess. Let’s go for a walk and catch up.” He offered his arm out to her as a formality, because her father was watching, because it was expected of him as a suitor and a prince. She took his arm carefully, her movements far too tense to be natural. She was his best friend for a very long time, he’d always wondered if they could have been more had they not been cursed to be born into royal families. 

As soon as they were out of the doors, Rapunzel dropped Eugene’s arm. “I hate this.”

“Me too.”

She looked up at him, scowling. “Why would you hate this? You get a wife and two kingdoms out of this deal.”

“I hate it because you lose everything.”

Her eyes softened for a moment and then she looked away, nibbling at her lower lip. Eugene watched the movement, thinking about what it would be like if the stakes weren’t so high for the two of them. He wouldn’t mind kissing her, but when you’re the crown prince kissing the crown princess that you _have_ to marry, a kiss changes connotation. It’s just further entrapment for her. He didn’t want that. 

“It isn’t fair…” she blinked and he noticed her eyes were watery. Eugene knew for a fact that Rapunzel didn’t cry around anyone. She was too strong willed for that. They must have been closer than he realized. 

“Come on,” he coaxed, sliding his hand over hers and pulling her along behind him through the gardens. As children, there had been a spot on the grounds they loved to go to to play. It was sort of a hidden meadow, with trees and vines packed in so close together that the castle became hidden, and they could easily pretend that they were just regular people. He took her there now, so they could be regular adults without these big awful problems. 

“It’s our spot,” she grinned.

“You remember.”

“How could I forget?” The way she was staring at him made something like butterflies flutter around his stomach. She was so beautiful and he so badly wished it could be simple for them. He just wanted to be hers. 

He plopped down on the grass, never minding the grass stains he might get on his trousers, and leaned back to watch the clouds roll idly by. She joined him, lying half a foot away from him, so close he could reach out a hand and find hers. 

“You see that cloud?” She pointed. “It looks like a chameleon.”

“Nah,” he said. “It looks more like a frog.” 

She laughed, and the sound was so infectious that he had to join in. It almost felt like it could be simple again, like they could be children. Like they could avoid reality and really just run away together. 

Then she rolled onto her side, propped her head on her hand and looked at him with a sigh. “What are we going to do, Eugene?”

He shrugged, glancing over at her. “You deserve to marry someone you love, Rapunzel.”

She paused, biting at her lip again. “I never said I wouldn’t be.”

His gaze snapped to hers. His face was slackened with disbelief. She couldn’t love him. That’s not what she could be saying. _Was it?_

“Rapunzel?”

“I care for you, Eugene. But…”

“I know.”

She looked at the ground between them. He reached over and laid a hand over hers. “I would never take your title away from you. I don’t want Corona. Hell, I barely want to run my own kingdom.”

She let out a breathless laugh, despite nothing being funny. “Why is this so complicated.”

It wasn’t a question. 

“I wish it wasn’t.”

“Me too.”

His hand was still over hers, he trailed his thumb absentmindedly over her knuckles and she watched the movement. 

“Hey, do you remember when we were kids?” She said, suddenly sitting upright.

“Of course.”

She laughed, _of course he remembered._ “Did you know I loved playing make believe with you? I loved when nothing in the world was important except you and I. I loved that when we played, we weren’t a princess and a prince anymore. We were just Eugene and Rapunzel. Just us. Those were my _favorite_ games.”

“They were mine too,” he smiled at the memories. 

“But do you know why I loved them so much?”

“Why?”

“Because it meant I could dream about falling in love with you without consequence.” Her gaze was serious. So serious he thought about pulling her down on top of him and kissing her there. 

“You dreamt that at five?” He laughed. She giggled. 

“I dreamt that at eight. And ten. And when you stopped playing with me because you had to start acting like a grown up, despite still being a kid.” 

“Is that so?”

“Why do you think I grew up, too? I missed you and I didn’t want you to forget about me.” She brushed that rogue strand of hair out of her eyes. 

He smiled, “oh, Rapunzel. I could _never_ forget you.” 

“Never?” Her eyes were hopeful for a second.

“Never.”

“Eugene?”

“Hmm?”

She laid a hand out on his chest. He sat up and faced her. 

“I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Why don’t you then?”

“Because when we leave this little meadow, we won’t be Rapunzel and Eugene anymore. We’ll be Princess Rapunzel and Prince Eugene again. And I don’t know what to do with all that added weight.” She buried her face in her hands, wrenching at fistfuls of her hair in her frustration. 

“Rapunzel…” he breathed, laying a hand on her knee until she looked at him through the slats of her parted fingers. “It doesn’t have to be so complicated. We’re always just Rapunzel and Eugene. We work well together. No matter what happens, we have to get married. Our parents will force it if we don’t do it first. We can form a partnership. We can change the rules when we’re the rulers. I don’t want to take your power away from you, I want to help lift you up. I want to help you be strong.”

She flung herself forward into his arms, knocking him back over into the grass. He laughed with reckless abandon as he held her. She buried her nose against his neck and his hands roamed over her sides and through her hair. 

She pulled back a breadth. “Do you mean it, Eugene?”

“Every word, Sunshine.”

She grabbed him by the front of his collar and dragged him to her, her lips crashing against his. He released a sigh against her lips, winding his arms around her, moving his lips over hers. Her kiss made him feel alive, and for that one moment, everything froze. He stopped hating Corona, and it’s pastries, and it’s princess. Because now she was here, in his arms, and everything was right in the world. He realized he never had hated any part of Corona, it’s people, or Rapunzel. He just hated what the kingdom could signify. He hated the prospect of ruining Rapunzel’s life even if it wasn’t his fault. But she was kissing him and he knew he couldn’t let her down even if he tried. 

She pulled back, breathless and flushed. “I’ve waited a long time for that.”

He grinned and admitted, “me too.” 

He pulled her back into him, needing to feel her soft lips under his like he needed oxygen to breathe. With her, everything would be okay. With her, maybe they didn’t need normal, they could redefine normal. With her, they could still be Prince Eugene and Princess Rapunzel. They could have it all, they could be partners in crime once again just as they were as kids. 

There was no Eugene without Rapunzel. Royalty or not.

So they kept on kissing, because everything was right in the world in each other’s arms and against each other’s lips.


End file.
